Six Competing for National Hardware at NAIA Indoor Championship

Oskaloosa–A half dozen William Penn athletes will face the country’s best at the U.S. Marines NAIA Men’s Indoor Track and Field National Championship Thursday through Saturday.

The 61st annual event, which is hosted by the Gainesville Sports Commission, will be held in Gainesville, Fla. at the Alachua County Sports and Events Center.

Six individuals, who have qualified in seven total events, will only be in competition on Friday and Saturday.

Friday

Koby Higginbotham (Fr., Knoxville, Iowa, Exercise Science) is the first Statesmen in action, running in the 60-meter hurdles preliminary round at 11:50 p.m. (Central). The freshman enters with the third-best time in the NAIA at 7.92 seconds.

Xzavion West (Sr., Guthrie, Ky., Psychology) and Fredrick Kolla Nguimdo (Jr., Wheaton, Md., Secondary Education) will then compete in the weight throw at 2 p.m. West has the 10th-best mark at 61-2.25, while Kolla Nguimdo’s toss of 57-5.5 ranks 31st this season.

Youssef Hamed (Jr., Al Wakrah, Qatar, Business Management) will also debut at 2 p.m., doing so on the track in the 60-meter dash prelims. The junior’s time of 6.73 seconds is 10th-best in the country this winter.

Keena Taylor (Fr., St. Petersburg, Fla., Business Management) closes out Friday by racing in the 200-meter dash prelims at 4:45 p.m. His time of 21.61 seconds ranked 32nd in the NAIA during the season.

Saturday

If any of the Statesmen advance through Friday’s prelims, they will compete in Saturday’s finals, joining two of their teammates who have scheduled competitions on the final day of the Championship.

Micah Mills (Jr., Houston, Texas, Psychology) will venture to the triple jump pit at 10:30 a.m., bringing with him his 13th-best mark of 48-2.75.

West’s second event of the week will be the shot put at 1:30 p.m. The senior enters with the 13th-best mark at 53-8.5.